1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data collection systems, but more specifically, it relates to data collection systems which use master units and secondary units configured to respond to the master unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Gun fire control system development is a primary research and development task for the Department of the Navy scientific and engineering personnel. Data on system performance in a sea environment is required for maintenance of gun fire control systems, to improve the performance thereof and for validation of new designs. In the past, the Naval Gunnery Analysis System (NGAS) was a laboratory tool configured to acquire performance data on the MK 68 analog gun fire control systems. The instrumentation consisted of cameras, simultaneously triggered to take pictures of computer dials. Consequently, parallax, low data rates and lack of intermediate values were severe drawbacks. In the most recent past, an electronic system was developed using discrete transistor to transistor logic (TTL) and an electronic recording media. The foregoing system was used successfully in the Navy's 8 inches Major Caliber Lightweight Gun tests. However, the system's inherent lack of flexibility was a severe constraint, consequently, the single purpose expensive data acquisition system proved to be too inflexible for the wide variety of testing needed in the Navy.